Growing up in the projects is hard enough, but add the fact that you're a white boy and you have an idea of ​​what Dalton Conley had to grow up with. Now a successful sociologist, Dalton Conley explains in his book the trials and tribulations he had to face to survive in the projects and his battle with race. Conley was more exposed to the idea of ​​race than most children, growing up one of the only white kids in New York public housing projects populated by black and Puerto Rican families. His parents were artists, whose low income and desire to break social mold led them to apply for housing in then fairly new projects. Like most children, Conley was initially quite unaware of race, a fact demonstrated when, as he recounts in one of his many anecdotes, he kidnapped a little black girl to be his sister, never realizing the difference in her color. their skin. For years he lived a double life, struggling to fit in with both the neighborhood kids and his high-class classmates. These subtle descriptions give the reader an idea of ​​how uncomfortable he felt growing up in a community where it was not normal for a person of his nature to grow up. One of the strongest aspects of Honky is the way Conley describes how he acquired his gradual awareness of class and ethnic privilege in American society. Once, after a child molester was caught castrating boys in the bathroom of his first school near the projects, Conley's mother managed to tap into the contacts of an artist friend and sign up. him at a Greenwich Village school using a false address. At that school, however, he managed to fit in with kids whose parents lived in the largely white, anti-nuclear academia... middle of paper... better themselves. There were many black people who disagreed with Conley and voiced their opinion because of it. Another topic that is interesting to discuss is why this white boy was forced to live in such poor conditions. Dalton Conley stated in the book that despite his mother and father's economic situation, his family was able to maintain a livable lifestyle that many neighbors and friends at that time were unable to enjoy. His family could have moved to a more refined, upscale community, but they simply couldn't afford it. In conclusion, throughout this book race takes on many different shapes, forms, and ideas. Let's not forget that racism exists not only in our community, but throughout the world. Dalton Conley does a great job explaining how just because you may not think something good can come from something bad, doesn't mean it can't.